Thursday, April 13, 2017

Band Review: Ryan Boam

As I check out links for Ryan Boam for this review,
I suspect he followed me not as a musician, but a fellow liberal Mormon. That's
not a reason not to review, because there are good songs here. It is a reason
to not be surprised if there's not a Youtube channel or many of the other
common resources.

Not needing listeners also provides some freedom,
especially if you are otherwise gainfully employed. So while there are
full-length songs, there are also two standalone riffs (one rock, one metal)
that are just fun. They are fun to hear and were probably fun to play; if they
never end up in a full song it doesn't have to be a tragedy.

There is also a small instrumental -
"Jonathan's Awakening" - that appears to be a segment of a film score.
It is truly beautiful, though probably less representative of Boam's overall
work than "Six-Stringed Heart" which speaks both to having feelings
and to being a musician. With a deceptively low-key sound and full of good
guitar, that seems to be Boam's specialty. In addition, while "Murphy's
Son" is enjoyable on its own, having both a final and demo version
available provides a nice contrast.

I was glad I took some time to listen to Boam's
Soundcloud page. It is worth checking out.

This may also be a good time to remember that
"amateur" doesn't mean badly done, but done for love.